Communication appliances, such as copy machines, fax machines, and telephones, are becoming more user friendly. Communication appliances now often combine the functionalities of copying and faxing. As more functionality is added to communications appliances, the user interface becomes more and more difficult to implement without using cumbersome keyboards.
In the prior art, if a user wished to fax a document, he or she would go to the fax machine, prepare a cover letter by hand or on another device such as a computer, type in the destination telephone number for the fax, and send the fax. This is cumbersome, especially if the fax was to be sent to multiple destinations.
In the prior art, if a user wished to e-mail a document from a communication appliance, the destination e-mail address would have to be entered on a keyboard. Thus, the prior art requires a keyboard for the communication appliance. Adding such a keyboard is cumbersome and inconvenient.